Destiny (The Chosen One Trilogy:Book Three) (20 page)

“Easy, now, Shlova.” Jasper
grinned. “I might get jealous.”

Kacey blushed. I gave him
another hug then surprised Roger and Colton by hugging them as
well. Kacey turned to Jasper.

“At first we were just getting
them to set up on the other side of the creek.” He shrugged. “We’re
out of room and more come every day.”

Jasper scanned the crowd and
nodded to the Namaels he knew. More and more of them were noticing
that we had arrived and the buzz grew louder as everyone was
alerted. All of a sudden, all was quiet. Everyone dropped to one
knee and bowed their heads except for our little group of friends.
I started to laugh.

“Oh, god. Nuts doesn’t even
start to cover it!” I raised my voice. “Everyone, please, stand
up!” I waited until the crowd was standing once more. “Please,
there will be no bowing or saluting. I want to thank you for
joining us.” I glanced to Kacey. “Did you tell them the rules?”

He nodded. “No one believes
me.”

Jasper hopped up onto one of the
large rocks that lined the clearing. The breeze tugged at his hair
and clothes and I smiled to myself, thinking of the first time I
had seen him address a pack before a fight. Of course, at that
time, our pack had only been two hundred strong and that had been
including the Wedelves and Scannoves.

“We would like to thank you all
for coming. A few days ago, Melana left for the Northern Regions
where she will meet the dragons. The plan is to have her attack
from the north. Shanus reports that the Scannoves are on their way
and Roben thinks we can expect another hundred Wedelves to join us.
We are presently waiting for Rainen to catch up to us. She should
be here in the next two or three days. In order to reach Paradin
when Melana does we need to leave when the moons are full. We will
head out in a week. Are there any questions?”

Everyone was quiet and I
wondered how the other meetings were going at the moment; Shanus
was filling in the Scannoves and Winged Ones that had already made
it here and Ben was doing the same with the Wedelves.

Jasper got off of the boulder
and took my hand.

“Where to?” he asked.

“Let’s go see your brother.” We
decided it would be quicker to go around the clearing. I smiled at
Kacey who was walking with us. “So what brought it on?”

“I think it had a lot to do with
you. I know I was a captain for Rainen, but now that I look back,
I’m not entirely sure how I managed that.” He chuckled. “Here…well,
here it’s different. Luke is in charge. When he goes home, I keep
things in order. Alex was helping out but with Leslie gone, he
keeps to himself.”

“Is she alright? What
happened?”

“She was called to meet. It is
time for the Fairends to mate.”

“Shit. Where is he?”

“He was here yesterday.” Roger
was walking behind us with Damian, Parker, Matthew and Emelly. “He
stayed for a few hours and left again. He hasn’t told us where he
goes.”

“How long has she been
gone?”

Kacey frowned as he thought. “It
has to be close to two months now. Mel said she left a couple of
days after we went to join you at the crossing. Alex seemed alright
with it at first. He’d been expecting it after all. I think he’s
worried something might have happened to her.”

“Where do Fairends meet?”

“No one knows, Shlova.” Jasper
glanced at Kacey. “She didn’t tell him?”

Kacey shook his head. “From what
she’s told him, the location changes every time. Even Fairends
don’t know where it is. It’s just a feeling that they follow until
they get to the location.”

My chest tightened as I thought
of what Alex must be going through. He had saved Leslie from a pack
of Majs almost ten years ago and even though he was a Namael and
she was a Fairend, the two of them had fallen in love. Since he was
too old to fate, they didn’t have to worry about him leaving. The
only obstacle the two of them had was the fact that Fairends were
one of the only creatures besides Winged Ones that didn’t fate at
all. Every six to ten years all Fairends were called to meet.
There, hormones took over and the next generation of Fairends was
conceived. Once the meeting was over, every Fairend went back to
being solitary nomads. I squeezed Jasper’s hand.

“Watch yourself. I’m going to
drop my shield.”

He nodded and stopped walking,
bracing himself. I projected my feeling of sadness and worry as
hard as I could for a few moments and then pulled back and shielded
once again. Jasper took a deep breath and let it out slowly.

“Well, if he didn’t feel that,
he’s learned how to shield himself.” He kissed my forehead.

“What did you just do?” asked
Colton.

“Alex is one of my guardians,” I
explained. “He can feel how I’m feeling.”

“Like Jasper?” Roger sounded
amazed.

“Well, sort of. Alex only seems
to feel when I’m feeling bad things and he can’t feel them as
strongly. That’s why I had to warn Jasper. I had to project.”

“If she projects, she can knock
me right to the ground if I’m not expecting it.” We started walking
again.

“Luke is Maj, correct?” Damian
looked at Jasper who nodded.

“My parents found him in the
woods when he was a pup. His family had been killed. Dad brought
him home and raised him as part of the family. When he turned of
age, his bond to you made him leave.”

We got to the cave that was
Luke’s den. Jasper knocked.

“I’ve got it, Dad!” Tyler’s
voice sounded through the door. He stood in the doorway, his dark
brown hair still short from having to be cut off, his deep brown
eyes wide with surprise. “Uncle Jasper!” He threw himself at his
uncle and hugged him tight. Jasper returned the affection. Tyler
stepped back just in time for Trent to come running out of the
house to crush Jasper with his own hug.

The twins turned to me and
grinned from ear to ear. I smiled hugged them tightly. Trent looked
at me and I recognized the same joking gleam in his eyes that I was
used to seeing in his fathers’.

“Did you shrink, Aunt Hayden?”
he asked. Tyler burst out laughing and straightened. Both of them
were looking down at me.

“Geez, you two! We’ve only been
gone a year and a bit. What has your mother been feeding you?” When
we had left, the two of them were about an inch and a half shorter
than me. They had to be at least two inches taller now. I turned
toward the chuckle that came from the door. Mel gave Jasper a hug
and then squeezed me tightly.

“Your guess is as good as mine,”
she said. She tucked her long black hair behind her ears and looked
up at her boys, pride glowing in her deep brown eyes. Her smile
widened as her mate walked up behind them. I shook my head.

“If it weren’t for the fact that
Luke is a half foot taller, you three could be triplets!” It was
amazing how the twins were looking more and more like their dad. He
smiled and lifted me off the ground with his hug.

“Glad you made it home, sweet
sister.” He set me down and grinned. “I’m especially glad you
managed to bring my brother home, too.”

I laughed. “It was close. You
know how he likes to get himself into near death situations.”

Jasper grunted and hugged his
brother. “She forgets to tell you that she managed to get herself
abducted first.”

Luke laughed. “She does like to
do that, doesn’t she?” He winked at me.

“Alright, everyone, let’s head
inside.” Mel hooked an arm around Luke. “I think this warrants a
drink and we need some introductions.” She smiled at Emelly who
smiled back shyly.

I had barely made it into the
house when a little flash of white ran up my leg and settled itself
on my shoulder. I pulled the little tairat off and hugged her to my
chest.

“Hey, my girl,” I mumbled into
her fur. She nuzzled my cheek then looked over my shoulder. She
jumped from me to Jasper, all the while chattering something at
him. She wrapped her tail around his neck. Jasper tensed, getting
ready for the bite he thought was coming. Tiny stopped her
chattering long enough to lick the end of his nose. He smiled and
pet the little head.

“Hello, Tiny. Did you miss us?”
Jasper grinned at me when she licked him again.

Kip gave a bark before running
out of the woods. Tiny squeaked and jumped back to my shoulder.

“Wow! What is that?” Trent eyed
the Australian Shepherd cautiously.

“This is our dog. Kip, sit.”
Jasper reached down and scratched the blue merle ears. “Over there,
they have dogs and cats, but they don’t shift. They’re just
animals.”

The twins knelt down so that Kip
could sniff them.

Once everyone had been
introduced, Jasper ran through everything that had happened since
we had parted ways with Luke by the waterfall. We then back tracked
and told the twins of their uncle’s adventures in the Other World.
They sat with their mouths open and eyes wide as Jasper described
cars and trucks, microwaves, cell phones and other things that were
unheard of here. He pulled his small pack up onto the table and
looked through it. He smiled when he found what he was searching
for.

“I know we missed your birthdays
again, so here are your late presents. Happy thirteenth birthday,
boys.” He handed them each a package. The boys smiled and unwrapped
the small packages. Tyler frowned and looked at the wooden object
in his hand.

“What is it, Uncle?”

Jasper reached over and took it
from him, smiling. “It’s a knife.” He pulled the blade out of the
pocket knife and showed the boys how to get the blade back in.
“Keep it on you.”

Both boys nodded and thanked
us.

“Can we take Kip outside so we
can play with him?” Tyler asked as he gave me a hug.

“Definitely. I’m sure he’d love
that.”

He headed to the door. “Come on,
Kip.”

I laughed as Trent shifted into
a grey wolf and ran out along with the dog. Tyler shut the door and
we soon heard playful barks and yips coming from the three of
them.

I leaned back in my chair and
smiled to myself. It was nice to be home. After a bit everyone but
Jasper and I made their way back to the clearing or Sageden.

We talked, ate, and had a few
more drinks with Luke and Mel. I leaned back against Jasper’s
chest. He leaned back against the sofa and ran his fingers through
my hair. I felt him sigh and let him feel how content I was
feeling. His arms wrapped around me.

Tyler peeked into the den. “Mom,
can we go to Sageden? Brent is going and says he’ll be back
tomorrow.”

“Is he going by himself?” Luke
looked serious enough until I saw the side of his mouth twitch with
the effort to hide a smile.

Tyler turned red. “Well, no.
He’s taking Brynn and Bree with him.”

Mel frowned. “Where are their
mom and dad?”

“Geez, mom. Brent is of age.
He’s old enough to go to town if he feels like it.”

“But supper’s almost ready.”

“We’ll grab something in
town.”

“Go ahead.” Luke looked at Mel
and shrugged away her frown. “Make sure to stay at Tara’s,
though.”

“Thanks, Dad!” Tyler quickly
shut the door, probably to try and avoid an argument from his
mother.

“What was that all about?”
laughed Jasper.

Luke smiled. “Oh, your nephew
has fallen head over heels for a certain young woman named
Bree.”

“Really?” I smiled. “Man, they
grow up too fast.” I saw Luke’s questioning look to my belly and I
shook my head sadly. I had noticed that Mel hadn’t mentioned
becoming an aunt and assumed that Luke hadn’t told her in case
something was to happen. I decided now wasn’t the time to tell
her.

The front door opened again and
this time Trent walked in. He went to the kitchen, grabbed a piece
of bread off of the counter and sat on the floor beside me.

“You’re not going to Sageden
with your brother?” I gave his short hair a ruffle.

He shook his head. “No. It would
be fun. I heard a few of the others talking today and Jein is
having a bonfire tonight.”

“So why don’t you go?”

He gave a shrug. “When we go to
town, all Tyler wants to do is hang around Bree.”

“So he’s no fun anymore?”

“No. That’s not it. I couldn’t
care less if he wants to be with her. She’s a nice girl. The
problem is her sister, Brynn. They’re twins, see, and a year older
than us. They’ll become of age next year. Since Tyler and Bree have
started hanging out, Brynn has decided that the two of us should be
together. I mean, she’s a nice girl, too, don’t get me wrong, and
beautiful. I mean, wow…but…”

I waited for him to go on and
decided to pry a little when he didn’t. “Are they cats? Is that the
problem?”

His dark brown eyes widened and
he looked at me, shocked. “By the moons, Aunty! What do you think
of me? You’re half human, half Wedelve and Uncle Jasper is a cat.
Uncle Zane is a cat and Aunty Dawn is a dog. Uncle Alex is a cat
and Aunt Leslie is a Fairend. I think I’ve seen enough to know that
it doesn’t matter what we are, we can love someone of a different
kind. But no, she’s not a cat, she’s a wolf, like me.”

After spending a year with my
thirteen year old cousin in the Other World it was shocking to be
reminded of how mature children were here. In two years, Tyler and
Trent would turn fifteen and become of age, at which point they
would be considered adults. At the age of thirteen they were
actually more like seventeen or eighteen year olds back home. Not
only were they more mature mentally, but they also matured faster
physically. Most shifters fated between the ages of thirteen and
twenty-two and if they were lucky enough to find their fated one
could have their first batch of pups or cubs by the age of
nineteen. If you actually sat down and thought of it, it made
sense. Cats and dogs where I had grown up matured more quickly than
humans. What was different was that once a shifter turned eighteen
or nineteen the aging process slowed and the being started to age
more like a human.